Is there anyone here who genuinely dislikes or hates The Beatles as a musical entity?

"Diluting" argument would need specific examples to be of any potential resonance to me. "Drawing on" argument describes almost all pop/rock musicians.

In their songs there is no Vietnam, there is no politics, there are no kids rioting in the streets, there is no sexual promiscuity, there are no drugs, there is no violence. In the world of the Beatles the social order of the 40s and the 50s still reigns. At best they were influential on the secret dreams of young girls, and on the haircuts of young nerdy boys.

The jukebox's contents cover a ten-year period between Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" from 1956 and The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream", released in 1966, whereupon Lennon stopped adding to the box. Largely by American R&B artists, they are songs that Lennon admired and many of them influenced his own writing.

Bobby Parker "Watch Your Step" 1961

There was a documentary based on this jukebox. The producers went to all the artists included in the jukebox and spoke with them about influencing Lennon. When they got to Bobby Parker, they opened with him playing the opening riff to Watch Your Step, which of course, is the riff from I Feel Fine.

But yeah, as I was saying, Watch your Step more than ripped off the riff form Ray Charles...the entire song is Ray's blueprint for arrangements during his Atlantic years.

(I also love that John is quoted calling John Sebastian [Lovin' Spoonful] a "damned tunesmith" due to his self-percieved non-songwriting abilities...which the last song on the jukebox of course, spawned Goodday Sunshine)

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Why don't we can do it in the road?

Don't listen to much music, do you?

classic

Pop radio hadn't played anything that I can think of like the ad infinitum na-na-nas prior to this release. I think the na na nas are the best part of the song. And haven't we all, at one time or another, wished a certain segment on a track would get this kind of treatment?

Don't listen to much music, do you?

McCartney is pretty close to the bottom of the barrel. The only band I can think of right now with halfway-defensible tunes and worse lyrics is Interpol.

polls split 50/50. each side claims victory

"Happiness Is A Warm Gun" is a terrible song. Like, really terrible.

I like the Beatles, though.

To criticise McCartney for his lyrics totally misses the point...like focusing on the melody of a Dylan song. McCartney's a guy with a good sense of humor who's never taken lyrics very seriously. And because of this, he's a great lyricist. Some people just wanna fill the world with silly love songs.

Of course, the main point about McCartney is melody and harmony.

You're right. It's just that most pop/rock musicians don't get the omgwtfcreativegeniuses status given to the Beatles.

mccartney's 'sappiness' is also considerably overstated, at least during his good years - i suspect it has more to do with his public persona than anything he actually wrote. his 'love' songs (when not obvious showbiz pastiches) are almost always meaner and callower than people remember: "another girl," "i'm looking through you," "you won't see me."

Well, they couldn't've been worse.

P.S. I Love Them

Chim chimaree chim chim
I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep